Ryan Gillespie

Ryan Gillespie

My name is Ryan Gillespie and I live in San Diego California. This blog is about changing your life by getting in shape and finding sustainable fitness and health with real solutions. The bottom line is that I want to help people… and be the hand extended when there are no other answers. That’s what it took to change my life and habits and I now love to help others achieve their goals!

My Story:

Just over two years ago I was struggling with everyday life. Just getting out of bed was hard. Not only was I massively overweight, but my marriage was failing, and I was living the life of someone I really didn’t like. I would binge drink on weekends, smoke cigarettes, and take medication to help make me feel better. Nothing I was doing was working and at 33, my life and health were going downhill fast. The final straw was stepping on the scale and realizing that the 10 lbs I had lost doing elliptical at the gym had come back, I was now heavier than I had ever been.

I knew that I had to change the program… and by program I mean my life. I ditched the medication, cut out smoking, and cut back on drinking. I had heard that P90X was a comprehensive in home program that really worked and so I jumped in. I read the literature, took my before pics, and put the schedule into my calendar. I committed because I knew if this did not work for me, I may not have other options. The first week was very hard and I wanted to stop… but I also learned that I could hang in there if I just set my mind to it. This was the start of a very big mental and physical transformation for me. In the weeks to come I found myself more mentally and physically tough than I ever thought I could be. Confidence in my abilities to handle the challenges of everyday life went up as my waistline went down… this was working. At the same time this was happening, I found the strength to deal with my marriage that had become very fractured. I can say that because I was in such a good mental place at that point that I gave everything I could to make the marriage work… it just didn’t. Knowing that I gave it all helps me to realize that there was nothing else I could have done… which is a big deal and has allowed me to move forward in my life.

The pounds came off. I smiled more. I felt alive. Within a year, I had done multiple rounds of P90X, a round of Insanity, and ran my first marathon. I had lost 55 pounds at the end of it all.

I found myself helping others with getting fit or providing advice as they tried one of the fitness programs… I was coaching. As much as I loved working out every day and focusing on my own fitness, nothing compared to helping another person with their own story of success. If I could inspire people with my story, I could get them to listen… and if I could get them to listen, I could show them that they can do things they didn’t think were possible.

I want to help people live the lives that they think only other people can have or deserve. I want to show people that everything they need is inside of them at this very moment. It just takes waking up and tapping into that potential… and that is what Change Through Fitness is all about. This is a real approach to a healthy, happy life. You can do this.